Extreme Solar Activity May Cause Auroras Over NZ

One of the most powerful solar flares in years, a remarkable
X17-category explosion, erupted from giant sunspot 486
this morning at approximately 1110 UT and, as a result, a
strong solar radiation storm is in progress.

(Click here
to learn about the effects of such storms.) The
explosion hurled a coronal mass ejection (CME) directly
toward Earth. When it left the sun, the cloud was traveling
2125 km/s (almost 5 million mph). This CME could trigger
bright auroras when it sweeps past our planet perhaps as
early as tonight.

Above:
This SOHO coronagraph image captured at 12:18 UT shows
the coronal mass ejection of Oct. 28th billowing directly
toward Earth. Such clouds are called halo CMEs. The many
speckles are solar protons striking the coronagraph's CCD
camera.
See the complete movie.

Where will the
auroras appear?

High-latitude sites such as New
Zealand, Scandinavia, Alaska, Canada and US northern border
states from Maine to Washington are favored, as usual, but
auroras could descend to lower latitudes when the CME
described above sweeps past Earth.

Not all CMEs trigger
auroras. Several, for instance, have swept past Earth in
recent days without causing widespread displays. It all
depends on the orientation of tangled magnetic fields within
the electrified cloud of gas. The incoming CME is no
exception. It might cause auroras, or it might not. We will
find out when it arrives.

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